They swapped seats and she stared out the window. He was so kind, but she felt useless. By the time Da was her age, she’d spent a year free diving for pearl shells. She hadn’t let anything stop her, and Tess couldn’t even drive a manual car.
She was reliant on Ed’s good will, because she wasn’t brave enough to go it alone. It wasn’t good enough. She needed her own plan of what to do when they got to Retribution Bay, but to do that she needed to know more about the destination. Hoping to smoothly segue into questions about Retribution Bay, she started with, “Tell me about your family. Your brother’s getting married, right?”
He nodded. “That’s Brandon. He’s the eldest and just moved back to Retribution Ridge. He was in the army for twelve years.” The scowl on Ed’s face intrigued her.
“You don’t get on?”
Ed shrugged. “I don’t know him that well. He left home when I was eleven and didn’t keep in touch. I saw him once or twice a year when I moved to Perth.”
“Is his fiancée happy to move to Retribution Bay?”
The frown disappeared, and he smiled. “Amy was working at the Ridge when they met. She’s the best.”
Tess knew nothing about sheep stations. “What does she do?”
“We’ve opened a campground. People come and stay with their tents or caravans, and Amy runs that aspect of the business.”
Why would they want strangers camping on their land?
“Darcy is next oldest,” Ed continued. “He runs the station with Brandon, but he never left. His daughter, Lara, is ten.” He waved to a car passing in the opposite direction. “Darcy’s engaged to Faith, who runs the pony club in town, and is a lawyer. I don’t know her very well, but Lara loves her.” He chuckled. “Mind you, Lara loves everyone. She’s a hoot.” Real affection filled his voice.
A hoot. Her mother would be horrified if anyone described her daughters as ‘a hoot’. They weren’t supposed to be amusing, they were supposed to be gracious and unassuming.
“Finally, there’s Georgie, the baby of the family. She’s a couple of years younger than me. She’s just finished uni and moved back to the Bay, but she lives in town.”
“Georgie’s the one working on the tour boat?”
“Yeah. She loves the ocean. I call her Mermaid because she could live in the water.” He smiled.
It all sounded like such an adventure. “What was it like growing up on a farm?”
“I didn’t know any different,” he said. “But I didn’t love it as much as my siblings did. Georgie loved the horses, Charlie loved motorbikes, and Darce and Brandon loved everything.”
“Charlie?”
“Another brother. He died when I was eleven.”
So much tragedy in the family. She pressed a hand against her heart.
“I wasn’t great at much on the farm aside from shooting. I could hit any bottle or can in front of me, but even that was pointless because I couldn’t kill anything.”
She flinched, seeing Tan’s gun as if it was in front of her. He hadn’t any qualms about pulling the trigger. She hugged herself.
“Are you OK?”
She shook her head. “Guns scare me.”
“As long as you’re careful, they’re all right. We keep them locked in a gun safe when we’re not using them.”
She shuddered remembering the explosion of blood.
Ed changed the topic. “I was also pretty good at tracking. Charlie’s best friend, Matt, taught me.” He shifted his gaze to her. “What about you? What’s your family like?”
Tess exhaled, trying to slow her heart rate. She could do this. If she freaked out, it would only make him more suspicious. Taking another breath in she said, “I have an older sister who married last year in a huge ceremony. She’s already trying to get pregnant.” Joy had always done the right thing in her parents’ eyes. Find a nice man, marry, have children. Her whole family was so old-fashioned, they were ancient.
“What about your parents?”
“Dad works in customs on the docks. Mum entertains and takes care of the house.” Though she remembered a time when she was younger when both her parents had worked long hours to make ends meet. She and Joy had freedom to do what they wanted, but all that changed when her father started in customs. They had more money, and were expected to act appropriately in their new social group.
